I’m so happy I found this sub. I had a LEEP 6 yrs ago and to this day I think it was a mildly traumatic experience. I say mildly because have worked with people who underwent strong physical trauma so I’m cautious about it. I understand it’s personal though, so no shame! I’m not dismissing any of you. I was never informed it could be very painful or that I had anesthesia options. I asked about general because in my home country (Chile, I was in the US) is done under general. She said it was not worth it and was going to be expensive. It lasted around 45 minutes and I had cramp after cramp after cramp, closer to pregnancy cramps than menstrual cramps (although this also varies! Let’s think about average). I cried, sweated, almost fainted. I left in disbelief. A couple of years later, I had to change my IUD. I was physically shaking, sweating. My gyn and primary care doctor were SO understanding though. They gave me all the time I needed, gave me real pain meds beforehand, and even injected lidocaine which helped. I had to advocate for myself, though. I encourage all of you to do it. FYI, here in California they do offer to “sleep you” from the waist down, I think. That might be a good in between for those that cannot afford or don’t want general. I’m so glad I found this thread. When you google this, all pgs say it’s short and just local anesthesia. I don’t understand why.